"Iranian spectators were fantastic and the fans were like Iran's seventh player," said Iran's Serbian coach Slobodan Kovac.

The first set was very close and the lead was exchanged several times but the visitors finally won the opener.

"Poland started the match very strong and in some moments we didn't know how to react. After making some tactical changes we started to play better as the match continued," Kovac said.

Some Polish women were present at the stadium
Iranian women aren't allowed in the stadium!

In the second set, Kovac's men bounced back by taking the lead from the Europeans at the beginning. Farhad Ghaemi gave Iran four successive points and the hosts held firm until the match was leveled.

Iran began a stormy third set, in which Mojtaba Mirzajanpour scored 8 points and Iran grabbed the set 25-11.

The Iranians took control of the match despite the Poles' early comeback to win the last set and gain a three-point victory out of the encounter.

"Iran deserved the victory as they played much better than us. I'm not happy with our performance. It was a good experience thanks to an amazing audience. We hope we can play better in the second match," said Poland's coach Stephane Antiga.
The hosts will take on visiting Poland again on Sunday.

Iran is currently in the second spot with 16 points, after Italy with 19, and is followed by Poland and Brazil each with 11 points.